Turning the corner
by Inkyfingers13
Summary: Six years after Pinkie Pie was exposed as the Butcher of Sugarcube corner, Spike and Twilight receive an unconventional warning of her return. As they struggle to accept this, others begin to step onto the stage. The healing of one of the greatest misfortunes in Equestria has begun, but in the shadows lurk some ponies ready to cut new wounds.


TURNING THE CORNER

The morning began like any other. The sun rose at the bidding of Celestia, ruler and possibly goddess of the land of Equestria. Dawn flowed over the land, sweeping away the blanket of Night and calling Celestia's subjects to bright-eyed productivity.

An hour later, Spike woke to the smell of breakfast cooking in the dragon blinked his brilliant green, slit-pupiled eyes before slowly extending his arms and rolling over, green underbelly down and purple back upwards. He hauled himself out of his new basket and clambered four-legged down the stairs to the main library. From there he meandered through rooms filled with bookshelves to the kitchen at the back. His sister, Twilight Sparkle, a unicorn of slightly darker purple, was levitating several pans across the room as he entered. "Good morning, Spike" she said, as she did every day. "Morning" he replied, and set into the routine. Together they prepared breakfast, set the table and started to eat.

Their breakfast conversation ran through various topics, but never mentioned the local farm (Sweet Apple Acres), the weather, fashion, the three fillies known as The Cutie Mark Crusaders, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Bon-Bon and Diamond Tiara, Sugarcube Corner, the Apple family, any of the changes of the past few years, the fact that although they both smiled and laughed when appropriate their enthusiasm for living was gone, or anything to do with the 'Cupcakes Incident'.

After breakfast Spike started washing up while Twilight opened the library. As he rinsed, a bowl caught the water from the tap and sent it spraying across the floor. Somehow, the water seemed to bounce, and it curved around as it landed. It circled tighter into itself as it slowed until there was only a static spiral shape glistening on the floor. Spike stared incredulously before deciding that the only way to deal with something so impossible was to ignore it and, swearing, stomped off to find a mop.

Nothing else out of the ordinary happened for several hours. Twilight inspected the shelves for missing books – even now, years after The Incident, many books remained in a state of permanent loan: DIY, Home Security, criminal psychology, self-help (grief and mourning), self-defence, the _Daring Doo _series, and organisation (including, to Twilight's dismay, _The Art of The To-Do List_) were the subjects that drew the most attention.

While the unicorn pottered around the shelves, Spike set about restocking the library's perishables. Parchment was neatly stacked, pencils were arranged by size, Quills were placed in pots, vases of flowers were changed, the potted plants were watered, and the birds were fed. Then it was time to refill the ink. Among other things, Rarity had left the pair a set of antique inkwells. Twilight had hesitantly decided that such gifts were too precious and generously given to not use, so instead of setting out disposable inkwells, Spike refilled each antique from a large bottle.

This particular bottle was putting up a fight. Spike had been twisting the cap both ways, tugging, gnawing and breathing fire on it for a quarter of an hour. Finally, he hooked his claws under the lid and yanked as hard as he could. Ink spurted out like an overshaken fizzy drink and coated him from crest to elbow. Spike sat still as it dripped to the floor, his head filled with a whirl of conflicting thoughts.

_That couldn't have been – He had to get this cleaned up – It could only have been – If Twilight saw this…_

He heard the sound of hooves on the boards behind him. "Spike, I've made you some tea—oh, _Spike_"

"Sorry," he said, turning around "I'll get it cleaned up"

Twilight wasn't listening. The tea set fell to the floor as her supporting violet aura winked out of existence, her jaw dropping at the same moment. Beneath her coat muscles twitched without rhythm and her skin was paper-white. Spike watched in confusion as Twilight's legs buckled and she sat down heavily. "What?" he said, following her eyes "It's just a bit of ink… oh" On his chest the ink had settled into patterns. Although blotchy and running the shapes were clear enough to read.

The bottom row was the easiest to read. A spiral and a wavy line were dribbling side by side. Neither of them seemed particularly shocking, but they gave Spike a feeling of familiarity and unease. He moved on, twisting his head so his snout no longer obscured the second row.

At first he thought it was an ellipsis, with each circle leaking a single trail of ink. It took him a dreadful second to realise they were three balloons.

With her face still locked in slack-jawed horror, Twilight began to sob. Her broken choking rose and fell like saw strokes as tears gathered on her cheeks. Spike's own eyes, nose and throat felt like they had been rubbed in pepper.

As suddenly as a bursting dam, he sprinted from the library, letting the door slam behind him just as the first of Twilight's tears hit the floor.

* * *

To clear things up, this is an indirect sequel to the infamous _Cupcakes _with a crossover from another, as yet unwritten, fanfic of my own.  
these events are after the events of the _Cupcakes _sequels, _Le petit four _and _One last party favour.  
_I'm going to take a break to work out where this goes next; reviews will help guide this, so start reviewing please! (pause to laugh at shameless self-promotion) During this break, I'll probably work on some other stories, including my prequel fic to this (hopefully).  
If you do review, I'd like it to be helpful: tell me where I'm going right or wrong, not just 'great fic' or generic flames.

I await your criticism!


End file.
